Intense Struggle! (Round 7 - The Database)

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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SpoilerNymphs need to stay close by those they love or the love fades away. The noise and confusion of recent events meant Aph lost her connection with Trickster. Pretty much immediately she saw Clara and since she wasn't currently in love with someone else she fell in love with her. That's how Aph works. It's in my profile thing.

Originally posted on MSPA by snoomanwaff.

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Bae smiled to itself at the chaos that was unfolding and tapped on the console some more and glancing at the notepad every now and again, eventually the screen showed 'Courtyard flame traps: activated. Target: Movement.'
Bae snickered to itself and started to search through the pockets of the corpses at the table, It had a plan.

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SpoilerLet's see how those guys likes a little fire.

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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Spoiler@Bae: Oh hell yes.

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Spoiler@Aph: Oh hell no.

Originally posted on MSPA by snoomanwaff.

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SpoilerAnyone going to do anything?

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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SpoilerI had another thing here complaining about how nobody was going to do anything, but then again I should have probably just shut it.

Also, flame traps aren't necessarily good for me apparently. Woo.

Upon seeing that Larus was hesitating to respond, perhaps was waiting for him to strike first, Trickster lunged at Larus, who quickly dodged. Before recieving his bearings again, he was quickly tossed into the air again, but this time, not by Larus. Trickster looked down to see a fiery explosion expanding rapidly before him, almost as if someone had tossed a hand grenade right under where he was standing. The impact bruised up his stomach a little bit, but seeing as he was a fire magician in the first place, he didn't get hurt very much otherwise.

Trickster landed on the ground feet-first, but couldn't even turn around entirely before he was met full-contact to the face by a rock-hard fist which sent him flying to the ground. Larus stood back silently, watching him, a man of few words. Trickster leapt up, backwards, and promptly started backing away.

I knew this wasn't a good idea, but no, I just had to go fight the guy who can beat the shit out of me, Trickster thought. His instincts were seriously starting to doubt him in this battle, and he didn't want to end up getting himself killed by running into battle like that. He hoped that this was the end of this little fight, but he knew that Larus wasn't going to be on his side anytime soon.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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SpoilerI just realized that the character I chose here is incredibly hard to write for, so sorry if I can't come up with anything. x.x

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerI'm focusing too hard on GBI... I need to post here sometime.

Originally posted on MSPA by Telamon.

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reserved

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerHoly shit you take a long time to post.

Originally posted on MSPA by Telamon.

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SpoilerWe have an hour and a half, don't we?

Larus was pondering taking another swing at the little one, when another burst of flame from the floor sent him diving backwards. Examining the ground under him for traps, he looked around, trying to regain his bearings. He saw his ally, Sister Clara, standing in front of the immobilized pink thing. He was about to ask Clara why she didn't finish the nymph off, wondering if she had some other purpose in mind for her, when he noticed the expression on the nymph's face. She was looking down on the nun with...affection?

Deciding he wanted nothing to do with whatever was happening between the two, Larus turned his mind to other things. These defensive measures had almost gotten him several times, and while some of them were simple booby-traps, he got the feeling that some of them were being directed remotely. Slipping into a side passage, he set out to find the control room.

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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Reserved.

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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A click emenated from the ground. Trickster's heart nearly stopped, thinking he was caught in another one of those explosions like before; he instead sighed while watching Larus just dodge an explosion himself, who then slunk into the alleys.

For a brief moment, Trickster considered the other people that were in this battle as well. He already knew Aph and Aegis, as well as the Larus character he had just fought with, but he knew barely anything about the other combatants in this... He quickly considered that the old woman would not enjoy his presence, judging from the comment she made earlier on, and the fact that she had one of his teammates held motionless was not a very enticing prospect either. He thought of the other three people in which he had not seen yet, and tried to remember as best he could about them. He remembered a few unimportant details from the Monitor's speech, but he couldn't pinpoint any physical details or otherwise useful information.

It was only now that Trickster remembered the thrashing headache that he had just minutes ago, and it came flooding back to him. He winced in pain, and rubbed his head while he walked over to Aegis. He made sure not to step on any conspicous spots on the ground and get himself killed.

Aegis chuckled at him. "Well, that was certainly... interesting."

"You haven't seen anything yet," Trickster said jokingly. "Nonetheless, I've been thinking, as for allies... I doubt that we're in a position now to get anymore here. Should we find some other people, leave these guys to their business?" He motioned towards the twisty maze of passageways that Larus had ran off into.

Originally posted on MSPA by snoomanwaff.

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Bae was onto the seventh corpse and had just found what it was looking for, a small pda type device, when it heard someone coming up the corridor towards the control room. Moving with haste now it plugged the device into the terminal and used a code from the notepad to transfer admin privileges from the terminal to the device. Minimising the window it carefully secreted the device behind the terminal and took a running dive under table, the last of it getting out of sight as the door opened and the Larus-person strode in.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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SpoilerI seriously would do something but I'm kind of stuck till Slorange does or says something.

Originally posted on MSPA by Telamon.

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Larus, through a certain knowledge of how bases are designed and a bit of luck, soon found his way to what is left of the nerve center of the complex. Before going in, he grabbed another rifle and a fresh clip from a corpse and readied it, not sure which supernatural beast was left to confront him. The room seemed empty other than bodies, however, and he entered cautiously. A control panel was lit up on the far wall, and while he was strongly tempted to just put a few bullets into it, he decided to leave himself the option of maybe picking up a cheap kill later.

A promising pile of supplies on a nearby table drew his attention. Striding over, he was reaching down for a grenade when an arm swept out from under the table and caught him on the shin. Reflexively, the bone hardened, preventing a break, but the force of the blow swept Larus off of his feet, sending him to the ground, and the rifle clattering away.

Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.

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Sister Clara sighed. Explosions and fighting and apparently-amorous pink women. This isn't how she wanted to spend her day, really. The nun flicked her wrists and fingers like someone trying to dry their hands without a towel, and the invisible restraints on Aph fell away. She put her hand out to the nymph and smiled wanly.

"Come on dear, we might as well try not to get blown up. I don't much fancy the idea of leaving the courtyard, since I at least can see what and who's around here, but we might as well get our backs to the wall, hmm?"

Clara bit her lip. Things were blowing up and strong men were trying to kill each other. And her. She was worried about the poor girl, and about Larus, who seemed sweet. Maybe Aph could keep her safe for long enough for Sister Clara to do a bit of simple divination.

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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The base in general had a strangely conflicting atmosphere, and one particular hallway stood out. Most of the arena had a rather orderly air about it, distinctly offset by the chaotically littered corpses all around.

But in one particular hallway, both of those atmospheres were offset again, by the cheerful young girl skipping down them. Even as she tripped over one of the many dead bodies cluttering the hall, and stood up cursing at it, it seemed more comical than the disturbiing image it was. (This was likely in part due to the girl's relatively small vocabulary with regard to profanity)

It was as she was calling the dead man a 'poophead' that she noticed something particularly out of place. Though the man lay awkwardly on the ground, his bloody recklessly sprayed around the area, a small book sat neatly next to him. The book itself seemed rather unusual, decorated in black, covered with what would best be described as 'bunny stickers.'

'This is clearly meant for me.' D'Neya thought. Not in a greedy way, but rather in that it suited her archetype perfectly. The subtle 'soul' of the book so very similar to her own, she immediately picked up the book, and read the first page.

The amount with which I may communicate with you is limited by the number of pages in this book. As such, please do not wastefully turn page after page, for this will simply sacrifice the uncertainty of this book, and leave me unable to speak with you.

For you see, no one in the universe you are currently in has read this book. As a result, the book's contents are 'up for grabs,' and I am able to manipulate them as a means of multidimensional communication.

But in your current state, I don't expect you to understand.

This statement was extremely correct. D'Neya had no idea what the book was talking about- though for some reason it seemed perfectly reasonable for it to truly be the 'book that was talking to her.'

In fact, I have serious doubts that you understand the nature of your situation at all. But your species is known for its extremely flexible nature- I'm not even sure if the matter that makes up your body is all that important.

But this is all rambling that you most likely don't follow. So I will get to the point. I'll even put the raw facts in bolder print, so your tiny attention span will at least be drawn to them. There are to be nine battles highly similar to the one you are currently engaged in. The ninth will be an 'all-star' round in which the winners of the first eight will be the only contestants. Therefore, of sixty-four contestants, one will survive.

There, I've established these facts. Too many contestants in the other battles have already wasted their thoughts on these facts. And you cannot afford to do so. It is extremely important for you to be thinking about certain things for the duration of this battle.

For that reason, I'll go ahead and give you strategic advice. Do this. Do not think about it. Earn the alliance of every contestant weaker than you. With their aid, defeat every contestant stronger than you. Then, betray and defeat your allies one at a time, starting with the strongest, ending with the weakest.

DO NOT TURN THE PAGE UNTIL YOU HAVE MADE AT LEAST ONE ALLY.
DO NOT SHOW THIS ALLY THIS BOOK.

~Signed, Someone with blatant disregard for the rules

D'Neya hadn't made an ally, so she closed the book. Then she started to think about the book's content. Then she remembered it had told her not to, so she stopped.

It was about this time that she began to hear some giggling. Slipping the book into her dress, she turned to see Clara and Aph approaching her.
Clara looked old, and Aph looked pink. That must mean they're both weaklings! Acting according to instructions, she began to skip towards them, giggling herself.

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SpoilerI get that Aph's bi, but is little D'Neya at least off limits?

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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SpoilerIn that case I think she would be more of a very strong friendship. There wouldn't be anything romantic about it. And if D'Neya didn't want to be Aph's friend then she would eventually get very upset. So the same as usual without the romantic overtones.

Will update in the morning.

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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SpoilerI'd kill to update right now but I'm stuck waiting for Aryo to confirm whether or not he wants to come with me or not.

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerDamn. It.

Just when GBI was starting to pick up.

Ugh. As soon as I get in a comfy fight the guy leaves. And by the looks of it, this guy seems to at least be of some help. Damn, what did that douchebag say about situations like this…?

“Lead the way,” Aegis said passively, “I'll be right behind you.”
Trickster nodded and began heading towards a randomly-chosen hallway, carefully watching his step. Aegis followed, walking normally and looking at Sister Clara and Aph.

“Hey, Trickster, what was with you and that pink girl anyway?”

“Uh, you don't know? Nymphs fall in love with the first person they see. As soon as she left me, she forgot all about me, I think. Don't you have nymphs in your universe?”

“Hell, even if there was, I wouldn't know anything ‘bout them.”
Trickster went past the doorway and turned to his ally, and was surprised to see him walking over the floor without any sort of prudence at all. A few excruciating moments later, Aegis walked past the doorway, leaving Trickster slightly bewildered.

“What?”

“You—ugh. Never mind.”

The two climbed a flight of stairs, turned an arbitrary left, descended another flight of stairs, and turned another left. They arrived in a larger room with heavy machinery in it—presumably the facility's engine room. Aegis paid it no attention, but a certain corpse caught Trickster's eye.

“Now what are you doing?”

“Hold on a sec.” Trickster approached the corpse. Although the flesh had nearly rotten away, the uniform was distinctly different. Upon further examination of the clothing, Trickster deduced that this was a worker. He began searching its pockets.

“Hey seriously, what are you doing?”

“What does it look like I'm doing? I said hold on.”

“You're stealing from a corpse. What. The heck.”

“Will you just shut up?”

“Okay… okay… This is a waste of time.” Aegis said quitely. A few moments later Trickster finished and produced a yellow security card.

“Waste of time?”

“Let's just keep moving, shall we?”

They left the room in the opposite door in which they arrived. Soon, they came to a courtyard, and saw an old woman and a floating pink female. Aegis broke into a laugh.

“Hey, how about I lead the way this time?” he said as he walked towards the direction Laurus went to.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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Aph grinned to herself, as she and Sister Clara stayed near the courtyard wall to avoid setting off any potential fire traps or come in between any hostilities, though to be fair most people seemed to have cleared out of the courtyard now. Aph spotted Trickster and Aegis wander into the courtyard and back out again, and cursed herself for being so stupid as to have fallen for him at one point. Now she could see clearly that he was just a jerk who had taken advantage of her vulnerability for his own ends. If she saw him again she'd be sure to take him aside and talk to him about how it's wrong to take advantage of women like that, by which she means hack him to little peices. That jerk. Aph grins to herself again and looks at Sister Clara. She's so lucky that she found her. Sister Clara would never act like that, she's kind and generous and the paralyzation incident aside she seems to want what's best for her. A look of concern crossed Clara's face, she was clearly worrying about something.

"What's wrong?" Aph asks.
"Hmm?" Sister Clara looks up. "Oh nothing dear." she says. "I was just thinking about that poor little girl. To be caught in a conflict such as this at such a young age. It doesn't bear thinking about."

Aph felt sick. She'd been standing there thinking about how great Sister Clara is, how she cares about her and how she's glad that she found her and what is Sister Clara thinking about? Some little girl. Aph's hand tightened around her blade, but then it passed as she realised it just goes to show how nice and caring Sister Clara is. She was still a little miffed about it though, a mood which was not helped when a couple of seconds later a little girl, who Aph could only presume was the little girl that Sister Clara had been thinking about, began to skip towards them. Aph breathed slowly and managed to hold back her annoyance at the girl's presence as she stopped in front of them.

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SpoilerWould have done this earlier but my internet died on me. [img]images/smilies/pc_distraught.gif[/img]
Hope I got the characterisation okay.

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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Trickster stumbled a bit as he caught up with Aegis, who was briskly walking towards the area from which Larus had wandered off to.

"Hey, we might've come back to the same spot, but you have to admit the security card was a nice get. Who knows what we could do with it...?"
The large man simply sighed. "Okay, okay, but still. I'm leading the way this time."
Trickster sighed. "I know, I know... but hey, wisdom comes with age, and, well, I've got a few more years under my belt than it seems -" he hesitated a second, and then grabbed Aegis's shoulder before he reached the next corner. Aegis skidded to a halt. "What's the deal?"
"Listen." Around the corner the clanging of metal rung throughout the corridor.
"I think that's Larus in there. I really wouldn't like to run into another confrontation with that guy again... he's a pretty powerful guy and we both know that - the only way I think we could hurt him is using our fire magic, which I really don't want to do."

"Why not...?

"Well... whenever I use too much of my magic, I... I kind of turn into something else. I'm not sure what it is, but I know it's not me. And it won't hesitate to kill everyone in this competition."

Originally posted on MSPA by snoomanwaff.

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Bae was, metaphorically at least, caught between a rock and a hard place. It was stuck in a mental stand-off with the Larus person, attacking him from under the table was a bad idea, and the Aegis-man and the...Trickster thing had gotten to the door aswell. It was pretty sure it could fight one of them but any more than that, like there was now, was serious trouble. It mentally calculated it's chances of getting out of the door with the Aegis-man and the Trickster thing seeing enough to recognise it later, it didn't like what it came up with, and scanned the room for an alternate means of escape. It didn't see any, that must have been how the corpses in this room became corpses since there were no vents or anything to allow air-flow, and came up with a scratch plan on the spot.
It first punched the Larus person in the face (which felt like puching a wall) who swore and covered his face in an instinctive method of protection. Then it grabbed a grenade off the table, removing the pin and threw it at the Aegis-man and the Trickster thing, who lept back into the corridor, in one smooth movement and darted to the console and pulling out the pda type device, after a moment to check the transfer had finished, to stuff inside itself, giving the grenade time to detonate without harming it. Lastley it shifted it's form to resemble a more alive version of one of the corpses around the table, a scientist presumeabely, and sprinted out of the door past the now surprised Aegis-man and Trickster thing.
It stopped running a few steps away from one of the courtyard doors when it's brain reminded it about the flametraps.

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Spoilerummm...let's say that trickster and aegis had enough time to get to the control before this happened :sweatdrop:

Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.

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SpoilerUm, continuity error? I don't think Aegis and Trickster arrived yet.

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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SpoilerIt's cool, continuity can shove it. I do like me some battle, especially with Bae. I wanna see how this guy ticks.

EDIT:// I'm actually gonna make a post right about now, but if anyone wants to do something beforehand I'll gladly step aside.

Trickster's not going to be the same guy after this next one, so you might want to make sure that if you want any interaction with him you start it now.